Cotton-cleaner



. me Model.) 2 sheets-sheen 1.

S. TUCKER.

COTTON CLEANER.

Patented Apr. 28, 1885.

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S. TUCKER.

GGTTON GLmuNEP..l

No. 316,505. Patented Apr. 28, 1885.,

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COTTON-CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 316,505, dated April 28, 18IB5.

Application iiled January 17, 1885. (No model.)

.To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN TUcKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Winona, in the county of Smith and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Improvement in GottouGleaners, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My Ainvention relates to an improvement in cotton-cleaners; and it consists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices, that will be more fully set forth hereinafter, and particulary pointed out in the claim.

The object of my invention is to provide a machine for the purpose of cleaning the cotton before it is ginned, and thus free it from foreign substances and produce a better grade of cotton than that which is ginned without lieing previously cleaned, as is now the common practice.

In the accompanying drawings, which fully illustrate my invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation. Fig. 2 is a central Vertical longitudinal section. Fig. 3 is a top plan view, a portion of the cover being broken away, so as to disclose the subjacent mechanism. Fig. 4 is a partial'elevation taken Von the side opposite to that shown in Fig. 1.

Arepresents a framewhich is composed of the sills B and Vertical beams C, which rise from the sills near one end, and form the corner posts for the hopper D. The beams C are connected by the longitudinal beams E F and by the .cross-beamsl G.

H represents a frame, which is placed on the sills adjacent to the frame A, and is composed of the corner posts, I, the top beams, K, and the connecting or tie beams L M. The frame H is only about half the height of the frame A.

Located in the hopper is an inclined slatted bottom, N, which is pivoted at its upper end in the sides ofthe hopper, as at O. The lower ends,of these slats are curved, as shown at Fig. 2, and vertical strips l? are attached to their extremities, which strips extend downwardly to the curved end guard-board, Q, which issecured upon the upper side of one of the beams M, at the rear end of the frame H.

A slatted bed, R, is located in the frame H, and secured upon the upper sides of the beams L. Teeth S project upwardly from the slats of this concave in the usual manner.

A shaft, T, is journaled in the frame A in blocks which are secured upon the beams F. A spiked cylinder, U, is secured upon this shaft, beneath the slatted bottom ofthe hopper, in such a manner that the spikes V extend between the slats of the bottom and project therethrough when the said bottom is in its normal position. (Represented in solid lines in Fi g. 2.) The cylinder U is composed of the solid heads u and the slats u', from which the4 spikes project.

yA pulley, t, is keyed to one of the projecting ends of the shaft T, and a similar pulley,

t, is keyed to the opposite extended end of said shaft.

WV represents a rock-shaft, which is jourr naled in blocks w, that are located upon the upper sid es of the beams F, under the pivoted end of the slatted bottom of the hopper. Tappet-arms w extend outwardly from the rockshaft at right angles thereto, and in a line with each other, and the outer ends of these arms rest normally against the under side of the slatted bottom. A lever, wz, is secured to one end of the shaft XV, or is formed therewith, and projects upwardly adjacent to the hopper. A pivoted keeper, w, that is secured to the side ofthe hopper, engages with the lever wz, and retains it in position when the rock-shaft is turned, so as to cause the tappet-arms to raise the slatted bottom of the hopper above the upper ends of the spikes of the cylinder U, as shown in dotted'lines in Fig. 2. A gate, X, is pivoted in the hopper, as at x, and its rods x normally rest upon the slats N. A cranked lever, wz, that is secured to the said gate on the outer side of the hopper, enables the gate to be raised so that its rods are out of contact with the slats, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

Y represents a shaft that is journaled in the sides of the hopper a little below the pivoted end of its slatted bottom, and radial spikes or arms y extend from this shaft through the spaces between the slats,similarly to the spikes of the cylinder U. A pulley, y', is keyed to one end of this shaft, and is connected to the pulley t by means of a belt, 3/2.

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J ournaled in blocks that are located upon the beams K of the frame H above the bed R is a shaft, Z, to which is secured aspiked cylinder, z, the spikesvof which pass between the projections of the bed when the cylinder is rotated. A double pulley, z, is keyed to one of the projecting ends of the shaft Z, and a main driving-pulley, z2, is keyed to the opposite end of said shaft. The double pulley z is connected to the pulley t upon the shaft T by a crossed belt, t2, and a belt, t3, connects said double pulley z also to a pulley that is keyed upon a roller-shaft of an endless-apron elevator, A', that leads from the discharge end of the bed It to the cotton-gin.

A shaft, B', is journaled in the beams Ka little to the rear of the shaft Z, and is provided with radial spikes b, that pass between the spikes of the cylinder z when the machine is in motion. rlhe shaft B has a spurred wheel, b', keyed to one of its ends. A similar wheel, '23, is keyed to the shaft Z, and is connected to the Wheel b by means of an idle-wheel, b2.

A slatted cap or cover, C', is placed over the frame H and covers the operating mechanis-m located therein. l

The operation of my invention is as follows:

The cotton to be cleaned is fed into the hopper, and is acted upon by the spikes of the cylinder U and the feed-shaft Y, and forced down the inclined bottom of the hopper and thoroughly stirred in its passage, so as to loosen and separate the foreign substances-such as dirt, grit, &c.-therefrom, which fall through the spaces between the slats. Ihe gate X can be raised or lowered, as hereinbefore set forth, so as to permit a greater or less quantity'of cotton to be fed from the hopper by the cylinder and feed-shaft, as the nature of the work or the quality ofthe cotton to be cleaned may require. The cotton, as it passes below the gate, is guided by the strips P and end board, Q, onto the bed R, where it is seized by the spikes of the rotating cylinder z and drawn by them between the projections ofthe bed, after which it is fed by the spiked shaft B onto the lower end of the conveying-elevator, which delivers it to the gin.

Should any accident occur, or in the event that it is desirable to ceasefeeding the machine and yet permitl it to remain in motion, it is only necessary to raise the slatted bottom of the hopper above the spikes of the cylinder U by the lever w2 and the means hereinbefore fully set forth.

By the use of a machine such as herein described I am enabled to clean all the dust, sand, gravel, or other foreign substances, or nails and matches, from the cotton before it is ginned, and thereby save the gin-saws from becoming broken or dulled thereby; but a greater advant-age is gained by thereby improving the quality of the cotton to such an extent as to increase its market value from one-half to one and one-half cent per pound, as I have demonstrated by an actual test.

In addition to cleaning the cotton, the action of the spiked rollers and the bed is such as to straighten and separate the bers of the cotton, and to so arrange them that they will be I fed endwise to the action of the gin-saws, so

that the fibers will not be shortened by being broken or cut in the gin. Moreover, I am enabled by the use of this machine to prepare cotton for the gin when it is wet or hot and the seeds soft-an advantage that has not heretofore, so far as I am aware, been attained.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- The herein-described cotton-cleaner, comprising the hopper, an open 'bottom pivoted therein, a spiked cylinder located beneath said bottom, a pivoted gate for regulating the quantity of cotton fed from the hopper, a bed having spikes or projections, a cylinder having spikes or projections that pass between the spikes or projections of the bed as the cylinder is rotated, and a shaft having fingers for freeing the cotton from the cylinder and discharging it from the machine, substantially as described.

In testimony thatI claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

STEPHEN TUCKER.

Witnesses:

H. C. HENDERsoN, C. YENsEN. 

